


Five Times Steve Didn't Celebrate His Birthday

by vassalady



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: 5 Times, Birthday, Canonical Character Death, Fluff and Angst, Minor Character Death, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-08
Updated: 2014-07-08
Packaged: 2018-02-07 23:31:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1918227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vassalady/pseuds/vassalady
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>During Steve's life, it hasn't always been easy to celebrate his birthday, what with everything else going on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Five Times Steve Didn't Celebrate His Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> I missed Steve's birthday because I was at a convention, so here's a belated birthday fic! That fits thematically. You can take number 5 as happening today (Monday/Tuesday depending).
> 
> It's just a quick little thing, because I didn't mark Steve's birthday at all last year, and I wanted to make sure I did this year. I also played with timelines in this. I know it's widely accepted that Steve woke up only a few weeks before the events of the Avengers, but I placed his wake up the summer before, with the Avengers happening Spring 2012. 
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> (The character death is his mom, just so you know.)

**1\. 1936 - 18 years old**

Steve came home with his hands covered in ink from the newspapers and charcoal dust from class. He cleaned up as best he could, but the ink stained, and the dust found every cranny to hide in.

The apartment was quiet; he couldn’t hear his mother’s labored breathing in the next room. She had gone out again, for what, Steve couldn’t have guessed. She wasn’t supposed to, but she didn’t take much of the doctor’s advice, even though she should have known better as a nurse.

He scrubbed his hands in the sink, but the effort was futile. He resigned himself to having smudged hands for the rest of his life.

As he fetched a clean towel from the cupboard, he saw her shoes were still there, nestled between the wash bucket and the broom, where they had been for the last month, untouched. Steve’s breath caught, chest tightening, head going dizzy.

The next second, he was at the bedroom door, and he froze. His mother was collapsed on the floor, shawl draping her body like a shroud. One slipper was still on her foot. Steve hesitated only a moment longer before he was at her side. He shook her, chanted her name. “Mom. Mom, get up. Mom!”

He turned her over to her side, and at last, she coughed, the sound like a chair scraping against the floor, and her shallow breathing grew deeper.

Bucky came to pick him up from the hospital the next morning. He pulled Steve in. “Hey,” he said. “It’s okay.” Steve held tight to Bucky as he cried from fear, from worry, and from relief.

His mother was still alive, but she was only getting worse. It was a matter of months, the doctor had said. He looked sad as he spoke, and Steve realized that his mother must have worked with him before. This was her hospital, where she had caught the very disease she was dying from.

It wasn’t until she finally did pass, in the early fall when the wind became chilly, that Steve realized that day had been his birthday.

\--

**2\. 1944 - 26 Years Old**

They arrived back to camp, dirty, tired, but successful. One less HYDRA base to contend with. One step closer to Schmidt.

The sun was already high in the sky, and Steve’s uniform was steaming. It had rained in the night. The truck broke down, and they were forced to walk the rest of the way. Otherwise, they would have been back well before breakfast.

As Steve shucked off his uniform in his tent, Bucky came up behind him. “You know what day it is?” he said as he tugged off his shirt. It resisted around his ears, but with one more sharp tug, Bucky pulled it free. It made his hair stick up, and Steve laughed.

“Tell me,” Steve said. He let his eyes wander over Bucky’s chest, covered in sweat. Bucky caught him looking. He shifted his weight, and his intention was clear. Come get me, his body said.

“Fifth of July. And you, my friend, are a year older.”

“Does this mean I get a present?” Steve took a step closer to Bucky. He looked down at him, which was still disorienting, even after all these months. He didn’t let that dampen his excitement.

Bucky shrugged. “Nah, too late for that. Missed your chance.” Instead of stepping back, however, Bucky leaned in until they were inches apart. “But we can celebrate a safe return if you like?”

“That I’m good with.”

A pointed cough pulled them out of the kiss. Peggy stood there, arms crossed, looking a little annoyed. “Starting a round with inviting me?” she said.

“Sorry, Agent Carter, ma’am,” Bucky said, looping one arm around Steve. “Would you like to join us?”

Peggy, as always, accepted.

\--

**3\. 2011 - 93 Years Old (Sort of)**

There were fireworks above the Hudson. Steve could see them from the window of the apartment SHIELD had given him. He sat in the dark, watching them, trying not to think about how even the air smelled differently.

He had only been off ice for a week, but it felt like an eternity.

\--

**4\. 2012 - 94 Years Old**

It was after midnight. Steve hadn’t caught sight of Rumlow in the past few hours. He was taking this training scenario way too seriously. In a way, that was good, but Steve just wanted to sleep.

Fury said, however, if they were to run missions together, they needed to figure out each other’s weaknesses. That started this endless match of chase in the middle of nowhere.

There was a rustle behind him. Steve dove to the left just as a shot rang out past him. He swung the mock shield, which didn’t have any of the weight of his real girl, and heard someone grunt as it hit them. The shield didn’t come back, but he didn’t have time to worry about it, because there was another shot and another practice bullet just missed him. There was a strangled cry before Natasha emerged, brushing her hands off.

“We’ve got to move, or we’ll be dead.”

Steve nodded, and they went further into the forest. 

It was another 30 hours before the game was over, Steve taking out the last of Rumlow’s men. When Fury picked them up, he said, “Sorry for making everyone miss the holiday.”

Natasha accepted the water and protein bar the med team offered her. “Nothing better to do. Besides, the fireworks provided good noise cover.”

“Yeah,” Steve agreed with a shrug. “Nothing better to do.”

\--

**5\. 2014 - 96 Years Old**

“Refill?” the waitress asked.

Steve thanked her and proceeded to load up his cup with more sugar and cream. He stared out the window of the diner as he sipped his coffee. He hadn’t been to Kansas since the war, and even then, he hadn’t gotten to see much of the land itself.

“Sorry I’m late!” Sam slipped into the booth, a little out of breath, catching Steve offguard. “Bus was pulled over for half an hour while the driver kicked the tires.”

“I told you to take the car, it would have been easier.”

“Then I’d be waiting on you, old man,” Sam said with a grin.

“You have a good time at your parents’?” He let Sam nab a few fries from his plate.

“Yeah, it was good. You should have come. Sarah still doesn’t believe that we’re traveling together.”

The waitress came over then and took Sam’s order.

Sam talked about his family, and Steve laughed at Sam’s nephew’s antics. They didn’t have any trustworthy leads, so Sam had taken the holiday weekend to go back home.

“So I’ve been meaning to ask you,” Sam said as he mopped up the last of his ketchup with his burger, “when’s your real birthday? I mean, they always said the fourth, but that’d be a damn coincidence.”

Steve smiled ruefully. “Sorry, but it’s the fourth.”

“For real?”

“For real.”

Sam shook his head. “Steve, you should have said.”

He couldn’t meet Sam’s eyes. He focused on what remained of his coffee instead. “It’s not important. I don’t know if it even counts anymore.”

“Hey, it always counts.” Sam looked thoughtful for a moment. “You want to do something? We could catch a film, go see if there’s anything to do in this town?”

Steve appreciated the offer, but his birthday had already come and gone. There didn’t seem to be much point. “I’d rather just see if that tip has any merit.”

“Whatever you say, man.”

The tip turned out to be nothing, but that was one more rumor they could cross off their list.

\--

**+1**

**97 Years Old**

Steve came back from his run just as the sun was clearing the tops of the trees. He hadn’t seen Sam that morning, which was disappointing. He thought a morning jog would be nice. But it still left him feeling invigorated and very much not thinking about how it was July 4th.

Somehow, over the past few months, Sam’s house had become _their_ home: Sam’s, Steve’s, Natasha’s, and Bucky’s, although Bucky still didn’t feel as comfortable as the rest. But it was a start, and it was the first home Steve had had in a long time.

He entered through the back and poured himself a glass of orange juice. The house was quiet; usually by now everyone was up. But it was a holiday, so Steve didn’t think much of it.

The moment he walked into the living room, the lights flicked on, and three voices shouted, “Surprise!”

Steve looked from the birthday cake on the coffee table to the presents stacked on the floor to Sam, Natasha, and Bucky standing there. Sam’s face was split by a grin, and Natasha looked amused, but happy. Bucky looked better than he had been of late, a bit more sure, a bit more like his old self, but mostly a happier version of who he was now. 

Steve didn’t know what to say. He felt a pain in his chest, a good pain, that was love and want and happiness.

The other three wrapped him up in a hug, even though he was sweaty from his run. He kissed them each, one by one, and then the cake and presents were left forgotten as clothes were shed and bodies grinded against one another. Steve felt like a man starved for touch, and he took everything they gave him.

They ate the cake in various states of nakedness and near-nakedness, and ribbons ended up on wrists and in hair. He received joke gifts and thoughtful gifts, and Natasha stole his new Captain America themed swim trunks to wear on her head.

It was by far the best birthday ever.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Five Times Steve Didn't Celebrate His Birthday [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13260570) by [ItsADrizzit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItsADrizzit/pseuds/ItsADrizzit)




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